[Della Street]

I haven't followed this closely, but hasn't he been convicted of saying UNDER OATH that he had NOT talked to Russert about this (he had) and to other reporters? (He had). In other words, the prosecutor did not get him about the Plame name, but about whether he even talked about her. So there's not much either Powell or Amitage can do.

No, Libby said under oath Russert told him about Wilson's wife and he was surprised to hear it. Libby and Russert both agree the conversation took place but Russert denies telling him about the wife and in fact says no such discussion of her took place at all. And there was the issue of Libby saying he was surprised.

However, he also told the FBI up front about hearing it from Cheney back in June but hadn't remembered it, just had a note about it so it's hard to imagine why he'd fabricate such a conversation with Tim Russert of all people.

And finally, Russert's memory and very credibility were brought into question in the trial.

[lugsoul]

For the sake of accuracy - he didn't initially tell the FBI he learned it from Cheney. He told them that after the note surfaced. Then he changed his story to the VP told me, but I forgot and when I talked to Russert more than a month later I was surprised. The part he left out of that is talking with the two CIA guys, Grossman, Martin, Fleischer, Miller, Addington etc.

I still maintain that if he had followed what Rove did and gradually came clean as more facts came out, he wouldn't have been prosecuted. But he stuck with a story that frankly isn't that credible. There isn't a poster on this board that would believe that story from a Democratic senior White House official.